A man has been arrested following a bizarre breakdown during a flight from Melbourne to Singapore, in which he verbally abused and physically assaulted members of the cabin crew.
The passenger, who has only been named as 'Henry', allegedly drank a bottle of vodka in the lavatories during the February 28 Qantas international flight.
Speaking to Newsflare, an eyewitness recalled: "This incident happened mid-flight - I was shocked to hear shouting and abusive language behind me. The crew members attempted to subdue him however, he was very drunk.
"He then became further agitated and aggressive and punched a male crew member in the back. The supervisor onboard then called upon passengers and other crew to unite and place the man under arrest."
Footage of the unruly altercation can be seen in the video below:[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/wUsj5ZOc-dkXnENEs.mp4||wUsj5ZOc]]
Footage of the heated altercation shows the man shouting abuse at a Qantas flight attendant, as he is cornered by staff and two male passengers. He can be heard shouting how one of the crew members has been an "a**hole all his life".
'Henry' can then be seen physically tied to a seat with restraints as he continues to shout abuse at the staff. As one of the pilots attempts to calm him down, the passenger calls the crew "pedophiles".
"Paedophiles like George Pell, people like you look like George Pell alright, yeah, yeah people like you are pedophiles so you cannot tell me how to behave", he rants to one crew member.
George Pell was the former Vatican treasurer and is the most senior Catholic figure ever to be found guilty of sexual offenses against children in a trial held in Melbourne earlier this month.
The Qantas pilots decided against diverting the airplane, as the closest airport was Singapore - their intended destination. Following the plane's landing, the unruly passenger was arrested by Singaporean police officers.
According to an eye-witness: "The man claimed to be living in Melbourne, Australia in Point Cook, and works as a teacher at Alamanda College, Point Cook.
"All passengers including myself were quite shocked that this happened but thoroughly impressed with how the Qantas Staff managed to control the man without any further incident despite his obvious abusive towards the staff.
"His remarks to the male crew members likening them to George Pell and calling them pedophiles was very distressing and upsetting."
Daily Mail Australia reported reached out to the Singapore police but could not get confirmation on if the man had been charged over the incident.
